10 Dark Horse Albums By Legendary Bands

After grunge started to fade from view, it wasn't really all that popular to be in a band like Pearl Jam anymore. Since the tail end of grunge gave way to copycats left and right, the old dogs from Seattle were starting to either burn out or enter some of the more spotty patches in their discography. Though Pearl Jam is no exception to this curse, there was actually some fairly compelling ideas happening on Binaural.

Looking to get out of the usual methods of recording, the initial idea for this record was to use the namesake binaural recording method to give the audience the impression of being in the studio while the grunge rockers created their song. However, the method doesn't really show up on every track, leaving most of this record feeling spotty in places. On the other hand, there is still some quality material on here, from the one two punch of garage rock on Breakerfall and God's Dice to the weird country music stylings of something like Thin Air or Light Years.

Even the few times where the binaural method works sound absolutely transcendent like on Nothing as It Seems, which features one of the greatest guitar solos Mike McCready has ever made. This was a good idea and these were some good songs...it just wasn't the right time to do it.